Inderjit Singh Gill
Inderjit Singh Gill
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Lieutenant General I S Gill PVSM, MC | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1922[1] United Kingdom[2] |
| Died | (2001-05-30)May 30, 2001[3] Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom India |
| Service/branch |  British Army Indian Army |
| Years of service | 1941-1979[4] |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit |
|
| Commands held |
|
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards |
|
Lieutenant General Inderjit Singh Gill, PVSM, MC (1922 – 2001)[3] was an Indian Army general. He was the officiating Director of Military Operations (DMO)[1] of the Indian Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He retired in 1979 after serving as the Western Army Commander.
Contents
1 Early Life
2 Military Career
3 Post-retirement
4 References
Early Life[edit]
Gill was born in 1922 to Lieutenant Colonel Gurdial Singh Gill of the Indian Medical Service and his Scottish wife, Rena Lister.[5] He was schooled in India. While on holiday in England, the second world war broke out, forcing him to continue his studies in Britain.[2] He enlisted in the Black Watch in 1941.[1]
Military Career[edit]
He was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers as a Second Lieutenant on 5 April 1942. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 5 October 1942.
The British Special Operations Executive planned Operation Animals to deceive the Axis Powers into believing that Greece was the target of an Allied amphibious landing, instead of Sicily. Gill served in this operation, for which he was awarded the Military Cross in the London Gazette of 3 February 1944 as a Lieutenant (acting Captain). His citation (which was not made public) read:
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"Capt. Gill proceeded in mufti with Maj. Barker on a reconnaissance of the railway on the South edge of the Thessaly Plain between 14 and 18 June. This reconnaissance necessitated a night journey across the Plain on horseback, and, due to enemy patrolling, for the reconnaissance to be carried out in mufti. Four days later he returned with explosives and one Andarti assistant and successfully demolished a bridge to the south of Proerna. During the reconnaissance and during the actual operation he showed the greatest coolness and courage and complete disregard for personal danger. Due to the proximity of German patrols on the railway, he was at all times in grave risk of being discovered. The successful achievement of this operation was entirely due to his personal gallantry.
During the past three months Capt. Gill’s work has been of the very highest order. He has consistently worked unsparingly and his work has been an inspiration to the Andartis with him. "
(TNA WO 373/46, 20 September 1943. A note at the bottom said: Should this award be approved, it is requested that no details should be made public or communicated to the press) [6]
He was also mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette of 6 April 1944 for services in the Middle East.
Upon India's independence, Lt. Gill relinquished his British commission and joined the newly created Indian Army.[7]
Gill attended the Defence Services Staff College course in 1954. In 1955, he took over command of the 1st battalion The Parachute regiment (1 Para). After Brigade and Division level commands, Gill was appointed the Director Military Training (DMT). He was the officiating Director Military Operations (DMO) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal as a Major General in 1967 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1972[8] for his role as the officiating Director of Military Operations in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.[9]
After the war, Gen. Gill commanded a Corps in the eastern theater. Upon promotion to Army Commander, he served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command, and retired on 1 June 1979. [4]
Post-retirement[edit]
Upon retirement, Gill chose to reside in Chennai, where he was a trustee of various institutions set up by his father. He died on 30 May 2001.[3][10]
References[edit]
^ abcd "Lt. General Inderjit Singh Gill - PVSM, MC". Retrieved 14 September 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ ab Barooah Pisharoty, Sangeeta. "Soldier First". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^ abc "Remembering Lt Gen Inderjit Singh Gill, PVSM, MC". Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^ ab Padmanabhan, Sundararajan. "Soldier's soldier brought to life" (PDF). The New Indian Express (The New Sunday Express). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^ "Madras Landmarks". Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^ O'Connor, Bernard. Sabotage in Greece. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-291-85407-7.
^ London Gazette 21/11/1989, page 13429 - Corps of Royal Engineers - Emergency Commn - Lt. I. S. GILL, M.C. (229329) relinquishes his commn., 6th May 1947 on appt. to Indian Army (Substituted for the notifn. in Gazette (Supplement) dated 27th Jan. 1950).
^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
^ Ray, Sreya (5 February 2013). "Tales of an Officer and a Gentleman". Business Standard. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
^ Mutthiah, Subbiah. "A place in fiction". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
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Categories:
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service
- Indian generals
- Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra
- Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal
- Royal Engineers officers
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- 1919 births
- 2001 deaths
- Indian military personnel stubs
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